Welcome to the GWTW Forum.Guests (non-registered users) can view the forum but are unable to post. If you don't have anything to say then why would you bother to register?One of the most popular sections of the GWTW Forum has long been the Swap Meet. A great place to sell old, seldom flown kites or to get great deals on used (gently flown) kites. Only registered users can see the Swap Meet section, let alone wheel and deal. 1000's (literally) of kites have changed hands thanks to the Swap Meet.There are several more benefits to being a registered user, but you'll have to join our little community to find out all the "secrets".Questions or concerns? Contact Steve ... just drop an email to: forum.gwtwkites@gmail.com

The following picture is of my family of Hawks made with the 0.33 Cuben fabric. The one in the upper left has a wing span of 12 in., a sail area of 48 sq.in., weights 1.0 grams with a sail loading of 0.105 oz./sq.ft. The one in the upper right has a wing span of 16 in., a sail area of 87 sq.in, weights 1.5 grams with a sail loading of 0.088 oz./sq.ft. The upper two Hawks are framed with 0.02 in. carbon rods.

I just finished the large one in the center. It has a wing span of 24 in., sail area of 193 sq.in., weights 3.5 grams with a sail loading of 0.092 oz./sq.ft. This Hawk is framed with 0.03 in. carbon rods for the wing spars and spreader, with a 0.04 in. carbon rod for the center spine. It had a 0.03 in carbon rod for the center spine, but it was too flexible.

The sweet spot for the center of gravity is with a static margin between 9 and 13 %. I have one more size to try, which will have a wing span of 20 in. and will use 0.03 in carbon rods.

Now I just need for the heat to break up here in the northeast. Can only fly for a short periods of time in this extreme heat.

Thank you for the compliment. My favorite so far is the 16 in. for performance, which has a balance of spar stiffness, sail size and sail stiffness using the Cuben fabric. I have a little flying time on the 24 in., which appears to be a big floater. The 0.03 in. wing spars and spread may be just a little bit too flexible for the associated sail area. The plans are done for the 20 in. version, which I will printout on Monday and begin construction.

I am finishing the 20 in. wing span version of my Cuben Hawk this week. Once I am done, I will post the links to access the plans, pictures and construction directions for the following versions of my Hawk:

My next project will be a 48 in. wing span version of my Hawk made from PC-31. The prototype will have 6 panels and use 4 colors. The following provides the anticipated color layout. I have drafted templates to make this size of the Hawk with 3, 4, 6 or 8 panels. I love the way the Hawks fly and really wanted one with several colors in my no/low wind kite bag. I also will finish my 17 in. wing span version of my Rapere.

The following links provide access to download the updated plans for my various size Hawks. The updates are as indicated below:

 16 in. Hawk Center Spine: The correct diameter for the center spine carbon rod is a 0.02 in. Line 2 for all of the 4 Hawks: The distance from the end to the mark is 1 1/4 in. This was missing on the 24 in. Hawk and not correct on the 12 and 16 in. Hawks.

The next link provides access to download the directions to build a Hawk. The remaining links provide pictures of the 20 inch Hawk that I just completed, to assist in construction. The last link and attached picture are of my 4 Hawks, stack up and ready to insert the spreaders for another day of flying. If you choose to download any of the plans, all that I ask in return for all of my efforts is that you make a donation to Steve Hall for this great GWTW Forum. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

I needed to make a minor update on each plan as indicated below. The links in the previous post have been revised to provide access to the updated plans, which files and plans are all dated July 29, 2013.

 16 in. Hawk Center Spine: The correct diameter for the center spine carbon rod is 0.02 in. This was mislabeled as a 0.03 in. carbon rod on the plans.

 Line 2 for all of the 4 Hawks: The distance from the end to the mark is 1 1/4 in. This was missing on the 24 in. Hawk plans and not correct on the 12 and 16 in. Hawk plans.

If you have already printed out a plan, please make the above update manually on the appropriate plan.

This additional nose weight help the Hawks cut through the little bit of turbulent air. Line 2 is set to the stock position, which places just a small amount of bow in the center spine.

If you want to spin and climb in light thermals, move the center of gravity slightly to the rear, which is the trim setting indicated on the plans. Just remove some of the nose weight indicated above. With this trim setting, the kite will point its nose slightly up in the turn and have a tighter turn. The turn also will cancel out the minor stall due to the moved center of gravity. With this setting, the Hawks like to spin right over my head.

With either center of gravity locations, I left the leader line connection point at the stock setting. Ran out of day light to play with the Hawk 12.

It was a rainy Labor Day, so I finished the small Cuben material version of my Rapere. It has a wing span of 16 1/4 inches (Sail Material), is 18 7/8 inches long (Center Spine) and weighs 3.35 grams. Will try it outside tomorrow. The following provides an angled view of the finished kite.

Spend two evenings dialing in the Rapere-CS. It's always fun figuring out the correct line lengths on a new version of my Rapere. You can't see it in the pictures, but when I first put it together, it had too much dihedral and decalage angles, and was tail heavy causing it to have a controlled stall steep glide. Also, the excessive dihedral angle in the rear sail would cause the kite to rock side to side. It would climb great, but then just hover. To make the draft construction plans, I scaled down the larger Rapere, but the 0.04 in. carbon rods I used for the center spine and spreader have more flex than a scaled down version of the hollow tubes I used on the larger Raperes. Thus, the 4 lines connecting the sails to the center spine were too short.

Shortened the spreader to reduce the dihedral angle and lengthen the 4 center spine lines to reduce the decalage angle. Now the Rapere-CS has the same dihedral and decalage angles as its finally tuned big brothers. The front sail center batten is a 0.02 in. carbon rod, while the rear wing tip battens are 0.01 in. carbon rods. Like its big brothers, it uses a carbon tube for nose weight, which goes from the nose connection point to the stop at the first line. The carbon tube has a diameter of 0.098 in. All of the Dacron reinforcements are only mounted using double sided tape. Regarding the batten pockets made from tedlar tape, I had to add a single loop hand stitch to each one because the 0.01 in. carbon rods were pushing through the adhesive on the tedlar tape. The yellow lines are 10 lb. spectra line. Like its big brothers, this kite can be easily taken apart to store flat. I used 2 mm crimp beads at the front and rear of the center spine and 3 mm crimp beads at the tips of the spreader, which allow one to disconnect these lines. Also, the tip battens can be removed to release the tension of the carbon rods and sail, since a small area within each batten pocket has a piece of the Cuben fabric to cover the tedlar tape adhesive.

Its a great little glider kite that weighs about 3.35 grams with a sail loading of only 0.161 oz./sq.ft., which is less than half of the sail loading for its big brothers. To obtain the great glide of its big brothers, I had to move the center of gravity forward due to the very light sail loading. I added a small end cap over the carbon tube to move the center of gravity. After performing the above adjustments over the past 2 days, it now climbs and glides like its big brothers. I flew it last night until it was dark and had way too much fun.

I will tinker more with the center of gravity location, since I think the kite is now a little nose heavy. When I select the final center of gravity location, I then can mark the flying line connection point. I will post updated pictures in the near future. If someone is interested in the plans, just let me know and I will revise the draft drawings to reflect the above and post the links.

Now only if I could find this light weight Cuben fabric in different colors.

Colored cuben is a little difficult to get, because it is only manufactured in color upon request, and then you need to order an entire roll, 99 yard of it.That said, zpacks currently has the .34oz cuben in a orange tint.

I noticed that the leading of the canard sail was not quite as tight and the trailing edge. This was causing the leading edge of the canard sail to move up slightly under flight conditions, slightly increasing the decalage angles between the sails. To correct this, I slightly lengthened the lines connecting the tips of the canard sail to the spreader. This cured the problem and now the tension on both edges of the canard sail are even. With this change, the center spine lost a slight amount of bow and I needed to slightly shorten the 2 lines that connect the canard sail to the center spine. You want just a slight tension on these two lines, so the trailing edge of the canard sail has a very slight amount of dihedral. As with its big brothers, the Rapere-VS has a quite a bit of adjustments you can make to dial in the type of flying you want to do. It is a great kite for someone who likes to tinker.

Flew the Rapere-CS today with the above changes and it is sweet!!! The wind was very light, but a little turbulent in my front yard. This little kite telegraphs the slight up and down currents, just like my Hawks. In an up current, I had it over 30 feet high and it was still climbing. Pulled it straight down, like a Harrier Jet Fighter on a landing approach, before the light lift took it over the roof of my home. This little kite can change directions as easily as one of my Hawks with about the same wing span. The location of the center of gravity is right on and allows the kite to cut through the down currents.

To launch, you just lightly toss it like a paper airplane down wind and quickly spool out the line so there is no tension. When you want it to climb, just apply a little tension on the line, and the kite will turn towards you, where you can tow it up like a conventional single line kite. After each tow up over my head, the Rapere-CS quickly settles into a flat glide. For more float, I just need to move the center of gravity slightly to the rear by removing the end cap from the carbon tube nose weight. I updated my prior posts on this kite regarding its weight and sail loading, which is now 3.35 grams with the extra nose weight, but smaller crimp beads in the front and rear of the center spine. Great little kite to fly indoors or outdoors. Will post new pictures later today.

Thank you to thief and ae for indicating there are other colors of Cuben Fabric, but at this time only in light gray or orange. Orange is just not my color for a kite. Hoping to find red, white or blue in the near future.

Our forum is made possible by the good folks whose ads appear above and by the members of our community (PayPal donation button at bottom)In case you missed it each ad is linked to the sponsors web site. So please, take a moment and visit our sponsors sites as this forum wouldn't be possible with out them.Interested in running an ad for your business or kiting event? Contact Steve at advertise.gwtwkites@gmail.com for a quote.